The present invention relates to nucleic acids coding for eukaryotic neutral sphingomyelinase, and applications thereof.
Sphingomyelin is an essential component of plasma membranes. Degradation of sphingomyelin gives a number of substances having potential second messenger properties, e.g., ceramide, sphingosine, sphingosine-1-phosphate. Two sphingomyelin-cleaving enzymatic activities are known, namely that of lysosomal acid sphingomyelinase, and that of plasma-bound neutral sphingomyelinase.
Bacterial neutral sphingomyelinase is a secreted soluble protein.